Bruins sign Bergeron to eight-year contract

Patrice Bergeron, who led the Boston Bruins in postseason goals and played the Stanley Cup Final with a punctured lung, was rewarded with an eight-year $52 million contract extension, the team said on Friday.

In 42 regular-season games, the gritty 27-year-old Canadian notched 10 goals but nearly matched that total in the playoffs, scoring nine times before the Bruins lost in six games to the Chicago Blackhawks in the Stanley Cup Final.

In nine seasons, all with the Bruins, Bergeron has amassed 153 goals and 433 points.

A former Selke Trophy winner as the NHL’s top defensive forward, Bergeron is also one of the league’s top faceoff men and toughest competitors. He played part of the postseason with a broken rib, torn rib cartilage and a separated shoulder as well as a punctured lung.

After losing Nathan Horton to free agency and trading Tyler Seguin, the Bruins have been busy this week locking up key players to long-term contracts, Bergeron’s deal comes on the heels of an eight-year $56 million deal inked by netminder Tuukka Rask on Wednesday.